Directions:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes or 1 hour or until done (alternatively, potatoes can be cooked in any microwave or convection oven). When potatoes have cooked remove them from the oven to cool. As potatoes cool, prepare soup stock by cooking 4-5 strips of bacon and removing the bacon while leaving the grease. Melt butter in a large saucepan, and sauté onion until light brown. Add the flour to the onions and stir to make a roux. Add stock, water, cornstarch, mashed potatoes, and spices to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Dice potatoes into bite size chunks. Chop baked potato with a large knife to make chunks that are about 1/2-inch in size. Add chopped baked potato and half-and-half to the saucepan, bring soup back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer the soup for another 15 minutes or until it is thick. Spoon soup into a bowl and top with about a tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese, a half tablespoon of crumbled bacon from step 2 and a teaspoon or so of chopped green onion. Repeat for remaining servings.

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